Proefrock finds stable ground with O's
11/21/2005
BALTIMORE -- When asked how his life has been since the baseball season ended, Scott Proefrock laughed a little bit.
"It was sort of a crazy month," he said.
That's sort of an understatement. Proefrock lost his job with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Oct. 5, but landed with the Orioles later in the month as the team's director of baseball administration. Proefrock had been with the Devil Rays since right after the team's birth in 1995, serving as assistant general manager for the last eight years.
"It's been a little bit of an emotional roller coaster," Proefrock said. "To be fired on the 5th and have a job [a few] weeks later, I couldn't have planned it any better."
Proefrock will help with the day-to-day work of the Orioles' baseball operations, including contract negotiations, salary arbitration and player personnel decisions, as well as budgeting and interpreting Major League Baseball's rules and those of the Basic Agreement with the MLB Players Association.
"Scott has a strong reputation within baseball circles and was what we looked for as an administrator to handle many of the day-to-day functions involved in baseball operations," said Mike Flanagan, Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations in a statement the day Proefrock's hiring was announced. "His knowledge and experience with both the personnel side and the administrative side are exactly what we were looking for to add to Jim Duquette, myself and the rest of our baseball operations team."
Proefrock said that he's looking forward to being with a team that doesn't mind spending money to get players who can improve a team.
"It's just a different mind-set, and I think one of the things that my experience in Tampa Bay brings here, too," Proefrock said. "You can spend money, but there's other ways to get good players. You [don't always] have to spend a lot of money. We resurrected players [at Tampa] and ended up finding some guys that did a decent job for us -- those kinds of things can come in handy in any situation."
Proefrock said finding other ways to get talented players is becoming more important for all teams, and that's why searching through international programs and doing whatever is possible to get good talent is something that's needed. Teams can't just rely on signing well-known free agents each winter.
That's what Proefrock is looking forward to doing with the Orioles. He said he wasn't shocked at being let go by the Devil Rays because of the change in ownership, but Proefrock said he was delighted at how fast he hooked up with the Orioles.
Proefrock started his career with the Pirates in 1987, working in scouting and player development. He moved over to Atlanta in 1990 and did similar work until heading to the Devil Rays in 1995. Proefrock was promoted to assistant general manager in early 1997.
The Orioles job worked out even better for Proefrock because he's got connections in the area. His wife went to Loyola College, and he graduated from the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Right now, Proefrock's wife and four children are working on shifting to Baltimore and a new life here.
"We couldn't have picked a better location from a family and personal standpoint," Proefrock said. "It's very refreshing to be in a situation where you get to make baseball decisions as opposed to strictly economic decisions."
Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/
BALTIMORE -- When asked how his life has been since the baseball season ended, Scott Proefrock laughed a little bit.
"It was sort of a crazy month," he said.
That's sort of an understatement. Proefrock lost his job with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Oct. 5, but landed with the Orioles later in the month as the team's director of baseball administration. Proefrock had been with the Devil Rays since right after the team's birth in 1995, serving as assistant general manager for the last eight years.
"It's been a little bit of an emotional roller coaster," Proefrock said. "To be fired on the 5th and have a job [a few] weeks later, I couldn't have planned it any better."
Proefrock will help with the day-to-day work of the Orioles' baseball operations, including contract negotiations, salary arbitration and player personnel decisions, as well as budgeting and interpreting Major League Baseball's rules and those of the Basic Agreement with the MLB Players Association.
"Scott has a strong reputation within baseball circles and was what we looked for as an administrator to handle many of the day-to-day functions involved in baseball operations," said Mike Flanagan, Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations in a statement the day Proefrock's hiring was announced. "His knowledge and experience with both the personnel side and the administrative side are exactly what we were looking for to add to Jim Duquette, myself and the rest of our baseball operations team."
Proefrock said that he's looking forward to being with a team that doesn't mind spending money to get players who can improve a team.
"It's just a different mind-set, and I think one of the things that my experience in Tampa Bay brings here, too," Proefrock said. "You can spend money, but there's other ways to get good players. You [don't always] have to spend a lot of money. We resurrected players [at Tampa] and ended up finding some guys that did a decent job for us -- those kinds of things can come in handy in any situation."
Proefrock said finding other ways to get talented players is becoming more important for all teams, and that's why searching through international programs and doing whatever is possible to get good talent is something that's needed. Teams can't just rely on signing well-known free agents each winter.
That's what Proefrock is looking forward to doing with the Orioles. He said he wasn't shocked at being let go by the Devil Rays because of the change in ownership, but Proefrock said he was delighted at how fast he hooked up with the Orioles.
Proefrock started his career with the Pirates in 1987, working in scouting and player development. He moved over to Atlanta in 1990 and did similar work until heading to the Devil Rays in 1995. Proefrock was promoted to assistant general manager in early 1997.
The Orioles job worked out even better for Proefrock because he's got connections in the area. His wife went to Loyola College, and he graduated from the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Right now, Proefrock's wife and four children are working on shifting to Baltimore and a new life here.
"We couldn't have picked a better location from a family and personal standpoint," Proefrock said. "It's very refreshing to be in a situation where you get to make baseball decisions as opposed to strictly economic decisions."
Source: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/
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